Blow for Blair as campaign stops sponsored school

The controversial Emmanuel Schools Foundation had hoped to open a £22 million college in a former mining village in south Yorkshire but ran into strong opposition.

A proposed sponsorship deal was originally welcomed by Martin Winter, Doncaster's Labour mayor, but he has now announced it will not proceed.

It is understood to be the first time local campaigners, including parents, teachers, pupils, dinner ladies and cleaners, have succeeded in blocking such a deal.

They staged a march at the end of last term against the takeover of Northcliffe School, in Conisbrough, near Doncaster, which was made the subject of special measures by Ofsted despite returning its best exam results.

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Protesters were concerned about the objectives of the foundation, part of a charitable trust set up by Sir Peter Vardy, a wealthy entrepreneur behind the Reg Vardy car dealerships.

Critics claim it promotes the teaching of biblical creationism, rejecting Darwin's theory of evolution and undermining the scientific teaching of biology.

Teachers' leaders are now urging the Government to rethink its plan to open more sponsored state schools to combat underachievement, which the Prime Minister advocated in a key speech earlier this week.

Mr Winter said: "As mayor, I sometimes have to make difficult decisions and this is one of them. I know that currently we are not doing our best by the learners of Northcliffe. We all want attainment levels to be much higher.

"We produced what seemed to be a solution with the Emmanuel Schools Foundation sponsoring an academy. But a significant number of the local community, the teachers and pupils have spoken loud and clear. They do not want it."

Opponents of the Northcliffe scheme claimed the academy would be "elitist and selective" in its intake, pupils would be "brainwashed with Christian fundamentalism" and it would be built, maintained and staffed at public expense with no local control.

They learned the proposal had been withdrawn at a meeting to formulate the next stage of their campaign. Tracy Morton, a youth worker who organised the parents' action group, said: "I'm absolutely delighted. We wanted to keep the school under local education authority control and not lose it to a private organisation, where we would have lost the opportunity to be involved in decision-making."

The foundation already operates colleges in Gateshead and Middlesbrough and will open the £24 million Trinity Academy at Thorne, near Doncaster, next year.

Bev Marshall, regional officer of the National Union of Teachers, said: "Our union is not supportive of academies nationally because they are effectively independent of local authorities and we recognised that the local community didn't want this academy in Conisbrough. It was an academy too far."

The foundation said the decision to scrap the academy was taken after talks with the mayor and a public consultation exercise.

Sir Peter Vardy, foundation chairman, said: "It is a missed opportunity both for the young people of the area and the community as a whole which would have benefited from being able to use the £22 million facilities."